Vatican Day! Part Due: Here's St. Peter's Instead of a Truckstop

Even the nuns have to get pictures of everything inside the place

My feet are tired. You try spending the day traversing an entire sovereign nation and let's see how your feet feel at the end of the afternoon. 

Well, I did not get to see the entire country. Always save something for the second visit! I did not tour the Vatican gardens. I did not get into the Pope's private apartment. I did not tour the residential neighborhood. (Yes, there is a residential neighborhood. The nation that is the Holy See has a population of about 1000. Mostly priests. Some nuns. Some Swiss guards. But they don't let you see how the "locals" live on any of the tours.)

But St. Peter's is huge. The size of a country! 

And I am not talking about St. Peter's Square. Above is the seating area for the Pope's public appearances on Wednesday. Today was Tuesday. Tuesday: no pope. Wednesday: pope.

And here is St. Peter's Basilica. Instead of a truckstop.

Just in case I need to explain the musical reference, it's a reverse-reference to a line (the most distinct line of many distinct lines) in the song "Man On The Moon" by REM. For some reason, the song popped in my mind when I saw St. Peter's. Not many pop song reference specific sights within the Vatican.

And the place is enormous.

It's like the world's most ornate, most richly-decorated train station, or football dome. It's the largest Christian church in the world and it feels like you could fit a good number of the world's other Christian churches inside.

This is the Baptismal font. Can you imagine being a baby being baptized in St. Peter's? Of course not. Babies do not have long term memories. And babies don't know St. Peter's from a truckstop. But can you imagine being a parent whose baby is being baptized in St. Peter's? Right across from Michelangelo's Pieta?

Speaking of which ...

Michelangelo's Pieta. Mary cradling the body of the dead Christ who had been brought down from the cross. The most renowned work of art in all of St. Peter's. The crowd in front is not quite like the Mona Lisa in the Louvre (less selfie taking), but this is clearly the star attraction. Let's have a closer look, shall we?

Michelangelo did this in his early 20's. It was the sculpture that put him on the map. And for good reason. It is brilliant. The mournful look on Mary's face makes this so special. Unfortunately, it's behind heavy glass and you can't get closer because a lunatic attacked the sculpture (Mary, in particular) in 1972, breaking off her arm, nose, and an eyelid.

We leave Michelangelo and head for the church pews.

They do have 'em here. They hold services here.

It's not just a museum of religious art.

But it does have that. In abundance.

I'm beginning to think that selfies are no longer a thing. I saw a little bit of selfie-taking on St. Peter's Square, but none in the basilica.

All photography inside seems to be taking place while facing ... actually viewing ... the work of art. Photographing the photographer is not the purpose. At least inside.

You don't have to go to the Sistine Chapel to see richly decorated ceilings in Vatican City. And this was one you could photograph.

This is an homage to Pope John XXIII, who was canonized not too long ago.

And speaking of popes who recently became saints:

This is the tomb of Pope John Paul II.

You want a pope who became a saint from farther back in history? Let's go as far as we can go.

This is the tomb of St. Peter, the rock upon which the church was built. It was cordoned off, so there was no getting closer.

St. Peter's Basilica is huge, but eventually it is time to go back out into the world.

Here are the colorfully-costumed Swiss guards manning the Vatican equivalent of Checkpoint Charlie.

Can we get closer?

No. Not really. They only let the tourists so close. They are working security, after all. They're just dressed well when doing it.

 

And, since this is a sovereign nation, here is the Vatican post office:

The line to buy stamps showed that post offices all around the world operate at the same level of efficiency.

After going back to the hotel to rest, it was supper time.

I chose a restaurant on the other side of St. Peter's Square from my hotel.

Quattro Mori.

The Four Moors, in translation. It was recommended by a friend from his time as a business-tourist in Rome.

The Vatican area is not tourist-saturated after dark, as evidenced by the lightly-crowded restaurant.

It's mainly a seafood restaurant. So I had seafood. My first course was the risotto with prawns in a cream sauce.

It had an Italian name on the menu. As did the grilled squid I had for a main course.

And for the third course, an amaro.

This was a nice tasting amaro from Sardinia. I don't know if they make their own, but they bring out the amaro (the after dinner liqueur) in a glass bottle, you pour what you want, and they take the bottle away. It was a nice light meal after a day spent walking nearly every inch of a foreign country.